Pecan Crusted French Toast

25Aug

One of my favorite breakfast foods is french toast, and I’m giving it a big upgrade by adding a yummy coating of chopped pecans! My Pecan Crusted French Toast is decadent and delicious and packs a ton of nutty, cinnamon flavor! This is definitely a must-try breakfast!

Okay, let me just start by saying that if there is one breakfast you NEED to try in your lifetime… this is it: Pecan Crusted French Toast. Oh. my. word! I’m a huge fan of french toast already, and I could eat a plate of that delicious, egg-soaked, cinnamon-flavored bread all day long! But if you want the ultimate decadence, the pinnacle of breakfast deliciousness… this is it! You take the perfect french toast and fully coat it in crunchy chopped pecans. Then you drizzle thick, sugary maple syrup over top and a handful of fresh berries. And then you inhale every last crumb on your plate and smile in delight. I’m telling you, it’s THAT good.

In my opinion, the only way to make french toast is with extra thick, fat slices of bread. Thin, wimpy sandwich bread just will not do for this recipe. No ma’am. It needs to be nice and thick to soak up all that delicious egg mixture. I like to use a loaf of Texas toast when I can find it at my store, but brioche or challah bread work great too!

All those delicious chopped pecans take center stage in this recipe and totally transform this breakfast staple into something truly worth cheating on your diet for! Surely calories don’t count when your taste buds are this happy, right? I prefer to buy pecan halves and chop them myself so I can control the size of the pieces. I want them to be small enough to stick to the bread well, but not pulverized into powder either. Packages of already chopped pecans from the store are great if you’re short on time or just don’t feel like dragging out your knife and cutting board!

Do you want to know why I particularly love this french toast recipe? Except for all those amazing pecans of course! When I normally make french toast, I dump a whole bunch of cinnamon into the egg mixture to make it extra yummy. After you dip the first few pieces of bread, the cinnamon starts to clump together and cling to the sides of the dish which makes my later pieces of french toast not nearly tasty. It’s a serious problem. With this recipe I add the cinnamon to the bowl of pecans, which gives them a delicious coating and ensures each piece of bread will get the perfect amount of cinnamon. It’s genius! I can sleep soundly now that this problem has been solved.

After drizzling on the perfect amount of good maple syrup, you will be ready to dive into the most amazing, decadent breakfast you’ve ever had! The bread is still soft and eggy, and the pecans add amazing crunch and cinnamon flavor. It’s ridiculous how much I love this french toast! I added a good handful of fresh blueberries to my plate to help cut some of the richness of the french toast. It was the perfect balance of flavor and not to mention the perfect color pairing with my new navy blue striped napkins. Pretty napkins always make breakfast taste better : ) Now take my advice, and try this recipe! You will love it!

Pecan Crusted French Toast

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups pecans, finely chopped

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

6 slices Texas toast bread

nonstick cooking spray

maple syrup, for serving

fresh fruit, for serving

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a shallow dish, combine the eggs, milk, salt, vanilla, and sugar and whisk until well combined. Place the pecans and cinnamon in another shallow dish and stir until pecans are fully coated with cinnamon. Coat a large griddle or skillet with cooking spray and place over medium low heat. Dip the bread, one piece at a time, in the egg mixture on both sides. Allow excess to drip off then place bread in the dish of pecans. Gently press the pecans onto both sides of the bread and place on the griddle. Cook the bread until browned, about 2 minutes per side, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining bread slices and serve drizzled with maple syrup and fruit, if desired.

Found you via an Instagram post by Dorothy at Crazy for Crust! So happy she posted as I’m going to enjoy receiving your posts in my email now.My grand-kids love my Cinnamon French Toast. They have said that *Nanna makes the best French Toast* Well, when they see your version on their breakfast plates next I shall gladly listen to them say *That Liz lady makes the best French Toast*Thanks for sharing this, they look amazing!

You are too sweet, Paula! Thank you!! I’m so glad you found your way here from Dorothy, and I hope you and the grandkids enjoy this recipe as much as we do! And don’t worry, I’ll let you take all the credit for this recipe when they ask ; )

Oh. My. Goodness. These look amazing! I love pecans. We make homemade butter pecan syrup, and it would be crazy good on these. We would love to have you link up with us at our weekly Super Saturday Link Party at MadeFromPinterest.net. We love your work, so feel free to link up as many projects as you would like!Sherri (the Baby of the Family)

Hi again Liz 🙂 My grand-daughters are visiting this weekend and eating your pecan crusted French Toast as I write this comment. They are enjoying it very much and have declared it *very good* Thanks for providing a delicious update to their favourite breakfast. Hope you are enjoying a lovely long weekend.

Hey Wanda! I’ve never made this recipe ahead of time before, so I’m not sure if that would work or not. I know there are a lot of overnight french toast casserole recipes out there, so I’m sure this could be adapted! I just might have to work on that… 🙂

How did you get the pecans to stick to the bread? Ours fell off whenever we dredged it in the pecan mixture so we just pressed them on top once it was in the pan, but then they fell off again when we tried to flip it.

Hey Becky, sorry you had trouble with the recipe! When I make this, a few pecans might fall off transferring the bread over to the skillet, but once it cooks into the egg-soaked bread, they should stay pretty well. Hopefully you’ll have better luck next time! 🙂

Definitely had problems with the pecans not sticking to the toast but that was not the biggest problem. With pecans on the outside, the toast is propped up on the pan and doesn’t cook properly. The bread then stays soggy and tastes undercooked.

We ended up mixing the two sets of ingredients together. We had about the same number of pecans attach but had better cinnamon flavor. Then when it was on the pan I smushed it down with my spatula so that it wasn’t propped up so much by the pecans. Then it cooked a lot more evenly.